Webmaster Tools vs Analytics

[Kinembe]

Can anybody tell me why the keyword info i get in webmasters tools is always way different than what analytics gives me for the same site?

Is one of them more accurate or should i ditch them both and look into another option?

Thanks again in advance.

[NickTyler81]

I think that Analytics is much more spesific in the results that you can get from the keywords by drilling down into source and time etc and WMT is a much broader snapshot.

It is probably quite hard to set up analyitics to show you the exact same parameters as the ones in WMT. Maybe you are just looking at different criteria and therefore different results?

[morestar]

Can anybody tell me why the keyword info i get in webmasters tools is always way different than what analytics gives me for the same site?

Is one of them more accurate or should i ditch them both and look into another option?

Thanks again in advance.

Ya I would do the same - stick with the analytics reporting as your guide rather than Webmaster Tools - this complaint is heard of throughout the web almost every day...search around and you'll find a reliable answer...I haven't one at this time...

[DonOmite]

It all depends on what you are using them for. If you are trying to figure out what keywords to target, then neither will really do that. But you will see some pretty weird search terms finding your site that you might not have thought of. Then it is up to you if you want to try optimizing further for that term. If you are using them just to see how many people are finding your site with your chosen keywords, use them both.

[SuperMan]

I would not abandon these both. GWT and GA are always progressing and giving us more and more information. I think one day we will see aconvergence of both these areas into 1 big webmaster tool where website owners can view an enormous amount of information. Right now, Google Analytics is stronger and I would use this reporting tool as your main tool

[PhilipDunn]

I've actually read a google response to this - something about the timing, about when the data is gathered being different from webmaster tools and analytics..
but i've personally found that if i don't have analytics on every single page in the website, the data will of course be very different..

[deepsand]

The fact is that neither GA/Urchin nor WMT is the best source of information re. query stings employed by your visitors.

If your visitor:

• Clicks on a Goggle organic or sponsored listing, Google knows the query string;
• Directly visits a page with GA/Urchin script, Google knows something, dependent on the specific script; and,
• Directly visits a page without GA/Urchin script, Google knows nothing.

The most complete and accurate source of data here is your own server logs.

[sithburns]

Since you didn't ask whether you should use some other source for analytics data... I'll respond directly to the question you actually asked unlike some others... Analytics is better to look at the keyword data than GA.

[deepsand]

Since you didn't ask whether you should use some other source for analytics data... I'll respond directly to the question you actually asked unlike some others.

Best re-read both the question, particularly the part that reads

Is one of them more accurate or should i ditch them both and look into another option?

, and the responses to date.

Analytics is better to look at the keyword data than GA.

GA = Google Analytics = a sub-set of Urchin Analytics.

[MrGamm]

You probably won't like the answer, but analytics are an interpretation of the traffic.

For the most accurate, you should be able to turn on your server logs, the downside being is that people without java-script enabled will be counted. Whereas with GAnalytics they don't count people without javascript.

Almost everybody has it turned on, but there might be some 404's, or maybe some more details regarding referrals, ip addresses, user agents, ect. I think webmaster tools counts 404s or broken links right?

So one is an interpretation, some might accuse it of being a means to sell adwords, and the other is more like diagnostics tool.